Jin Arafune
Jin Arafune (迅荒船, "Arafune Jin") is a Shinigami formerly of the Sixth Division of the Gotei 13. Appearance As a member of the Sixth Division, Jin wore that standard Shihakushō as most other shinigami, however, he decided against wearing anything underneath; allowing his bare chest to be exposed instead. Jin has crystal-like blue colored eyes and dark blue, almost black colored hair. For the most part, Jin wore his hair up in small ponytail that he kept up with a hair-clip in the shape of a white lily. One could say that Jin's appearance was often quite ragged or unkempt as he took very little care of himself, preferring to spend his time out training or on the battlefield. Spending so much time on the field of battle, Jin's body is covered in scars and old wounds, with some making it seem as though its a miracle that he's even alive at this point. After leaving the Gotei and spending a vast majority of his time acting as a mercenary in the World of the Living, Jin changed his appearance quite a bit. Forgoing the standard attire of Shinigami so that he may blend in more, Jin is often seen wearing a black colored sweater jersey and track pants with a white trim starting from the shoulder and moving downward vertically. He also adorns an old, tattered white bandanna around his neck; hiding the old battle scars on his neck from those around him. Jin can also be seen wears a pair of brown knee-length boots and a green ribbon around his right wrist, given to him by his first client as a gift. Personality History Synopsis Powers and Abilities Monstrous Spiritual Energy: Expert Swordsmanship Specialist: As a man who spends most of his time on the battlefield and trains when he isn't, it should come as no surprise that Jin is skilled with a blade. He is able to strike quickly and fluidly, attacking the enemy multiple times. Jin has adapted the blade as an extension of his own body, being able to adjust and change the trajectory of his attacks mid-swing or at the very last moment; catching over-confident opponent's off-guard. Unlike most swordsmen, Jin lacks a specific stance or starting position, allowing him to attack from any direction and give no hints to his movements. Jin has been seen to be capable of taking on multiple opponents, striking each of them down with singular attacks aimed directly towards their vitals. With zero wasted movements and a capacity to instinctively know from where to strike, Jin is a very dangerous man to face in the field with a sword. : Katachi no Han (形反, Japanese for "Form of Counterforce"): This technique is Jin's stance of absolute defense, which can not be broken through by normal techniques. To start, he places his sword horizontally in front of his body and begins to analyze his opponent's movements. By concentrating while carefully looking at the opponent and the surroundings, Jin is able to discern all the possible ways one could attack, discarding the less probable ones and prepare himself for the oncoming attack from the predicted direction. Once the opponent intiates their attack, Jin can place his sword in a proper position so that he may stop the opponent dead in their tracks by pushing against their blade with his own, right before the apex of their swing. This stops the attack and allows Jin to use the opponent's own momentum to force them back or break their guard so that he may follow-up with his own attack. Expert Kidō Specialist: Considered a prodigy during his time at the academy, Jin is able to use Kido in his battles as well. Using this to attack his opponents, defend himself, or even supplement his own swordplay; Jin is well versed in the different variations of the art. Being able to cast to spells at the same time by chanting the incantations together, is only a small mark of his level of talent. He can even cast multiple spells in quick succession, without tiring or even showing visible signs of exhaustion. Casting spells has become almost second nature to him as he is able to think logically and decided which spell to use in a given situation and at what moment would be the best for him to utilize it. Jin often utilizes his Kido on a new opponent before drawing his blade in order to gauge their strength in battle. Should the target withstand his onslaught of spells, then Jin will begin to ready his blade for combat. : Written Casting: Jin has also shown the uncanny ability to be able to simultaneously speak and write two different incantations at the same time. Developing this skill sometime after defecting from the Gotei, Jin is able to draw the kanji for the spell he wishes to use in the air; with the reishi particles coming together to match his movements and indicating what he is drawing. This skill allows him to perform a variety of combinations as he can draw out several different spells at a time in order to barrage his opponent with both written and spoken Kido spells. He can cause his written spells to work only when specific conditions are met, such as: speaking a certain word, pressure from an outside force, a change in spiritual power, a specific emotion, or various other things. More often than not, Jin uses this with Bakudo spells in order to first trap opponents so that he may finish them off with an attack spell. Although, he has shown himself to use various Hado spells as well to isolate an opponent's movements, locking them in position for either he or one his allies to finish off. Zanpakuto Zankyō ' (残響, ''Japanese for "Reverberation") is the name of Jin's Zanpakuto. In it's sealed form, its simply a long blade wrapped in a series of bandages from the tip of its blade to the end of its poorly formed hilt. Underneath, the blade is rusted and jagged, being used more as a weapon for tearing and shredding, rather than slicing or cutting. : ''Sealed Special Ability'': In its sealed form, Zankyō produces a constant stream of sound waves from its blade that acts a form of armor for Jin. These sound waves are constantly moving about Jin's body, allowing him to guard against weak projectile-based attacks. Jin can also use these sound waves to enhance his movements and bolster his speed by gathering the sound waves around his body into his feet, resulting in quick bursts of speed with his automatic defense vanishing in return. [[Shikai|'''Shikai]]: Released with three different commands, Zankyō's form upon entering Shikai. may be different. However, upon being released, the bandages around Zankyō's blade peels away as it is covered in a peculiar rainbow-colored light. As the light fades, Zankyō's is revealed to have seemingly reforged itself into a beautiful, crystalline-like sword that lacks a proper hilt or guard. : Shikai Special Ability: When released with the command "Echo", Zankyō's blade break down into hundreds of small, reflective particles that then scatter about the area in front of Jin. Each one of these particles will then begin to emit loud vibrations which allow Jin to produce a powerful and potent illusion. This illusion differs from the illusionary powers of such Zanpakutō such as Kyōka Suigetsu or Sakanade as Zankyō is able to overtakes all five of the opponent's senses at once, via the disruption caused by the assortment of vibrations occurring at once. In order to fully activate this ability, Zankyō must first come into contact with the opponent, if even for a moment. At the very instance of contact, Jin places a small bit of Zankyō's released blade on the skin of his opponent and it spreads like a virus, reverberating a single vibration throughout their entire body, trapping them in a world of Jin's creation. The trick to Zankyō's illusions comes from the moment of contact; as the particles that are implanted on the opponent and then interact with their brain's synapses, and controls them by using the frequencies used by the brain in order to feed false messages. Using the release command "Go Silent", Zankyō will first reform into its initial Shikai form if this is used after the previous release command. After Zankyō reforms, it starts to give off a faint noise, similar to hum, as the the blade begins to vibrate at high speeds, reverberating around five thousand times per second. The qualities of this released form gives Zankyō a chainsaw-like effect, allowing Jin to completely shatter energy-based attacks with a single swing of his blade and even cut through an opponent's Zanpakuto should they not be careful. The high speed blade of Zankyō is virtually unblockable as its molecules are moving far too fast for standard guarding to have any real effect; with the defender risking to be cleaved in two. With the last command, "Sing Your Heart Out", Zankyō again will first reform itself if used after the first command. With this final command, Zankyō is able to release powerful, enhanced sound waves with each swing of its blade. Jin is able to produce barriers of sound in order to protect himself and allies from attacks or even produce loud screeches in order to render an opponent defenseless and should he put more power behind it, the screeches are will become vibrations that powerful enough to create a tremor in the immediate vicinity. ::Senritsu (旋律, Japanese for "Melody"): Zankyō's only named technique in Shikai and only able to be used with the second or third release commands. Jin is able to gather the sound waves that naturally protrude from Zankyō in its sealed form which protects his body and focus them directly onto the blade. The collected sound waves will then begin causing the blade to vibrate at high speeds, if not already used with the second command, and result in Zankyō glowing a bright red. Jin will then raise the blade of Zankyō into the air and make a downward swing toward the opponent, resulting in the collected sound waves gathering into a sphere of dense energy that shoots off toward the intended target. The launched sphere will rip through the air, creating a difficult noise for those around to withstand. When in close proximity to the target, the sphere of sound will disrupt their perception due to the increasingly loud noise before exploding with concussive force. The power behind the explosion is increased based on the amount of sound waves that were gathered before use. Those who are unguarded will find that if they survive the initial explosion, then their eardrums and equilibrium are damaged; which results in difficulty in continuing the fight. [[Bankai|'Bankai']]: Not Yet Achieved/Revealed